Tides
by EverybodyliesMD
Summary: It was then that Cuddy remembered the miserable moment in which she lost the two most important things in her life. Minor House/Cuddy. Cuddy centric.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D.

The bright red numbers of the digital clock gave a small amount of light to a nearly pitch black room. Lisa Cuddy watched it patiently. It was a minute before she had set the alarm to go off. Normally, Cuddy hated it when she woke up before the alarm, but today was different.

It had been a restless day for Lisa Cuddy. She had gotten through the day robotically, starting from the moment she had woken up and looked at the calendar. Lisa was exhausted, even though sleepless nights and early morning wake up calls were disgustingly common to most doctors.

3,2,1...The high wail of the small clock sounded.

The hospital administrator turned off the alarm. She exited her room counting each step as her foot touched it, being sure never to place both feet on one step. Fourteen steps later she found herself standing inside her kitchen.

Glancing at the clock, which now read 1:36 a.m. Lisa scrambled throughout her kitchen gathering the supplies she would need.

Thirty seconds, she struck a match. Diligently, she touched the top of every candle on the cake which rested on her counter. There were only fifteen more seconds. Cuddy counted down the time in her head. Then, just as the clock turned to 1:37 a.m. she blew out the candles.

Dr. Cuddy looked down at the cake. Although it was dark, the words that she had carefully written in frosting were still visible.

"Happy Birthday Landon" she whispered, her voice straining.

The miserable moment changed once the phone began to ring.

"This is Lisa Cuddy" she answered.

What she heard on the other side of the phone surprised her.

" Dr. Cuddy, this is Detective Andrew Davis"

"Oh god." she groaned into the phone, "What did House do now?"

The detective took a moment before answering.

"That's not what this call is about."

Cuddy's mind quickly raced with thoughts as she tried to establish what a detective could be calling her for, but his voice interrupted.

"Lisa, we found your son."

The world around her began to spin as she grasped the kitchen counter in shock and confusion.

"That can't be right." Lisa whispered into the phone her voice trembling. "Detective Davis, Landon died eleven years ago."

"Lisa" the detective's voice softened. " The DNA matches. It's him"

As she finally came to realize what the detective was saying, Cuddy slid down the wall she had leant on for support, tears of joy and relief streaming down her face after years of pain.

She heard Detective Davis' voice one more time on the phone.

"Congratulations Lisa, it's you're boy."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own House.

It didn't make sense. It wasn't possible.

Lisa struggled to find the ability to speak again.

"Where is he?"

The Detective spoke again, sounding relieved.

"They found him over in Pennsylvania."

Pennsylvania. It was so close, but yet so far from her. She would have never been able to know he was there, after all, she had been told he was dead.

Cuddy wondered what he was like. Landon had been such a happy baby, for the few months that she had known him, always smiling, loved to laugh. A thought interrupted the memory.

"Detective, does he even know?" Lisa asked curiously.

"He knows minor details, mostly that the family he was living with wasn't really his family."

Family. Who could he have been living with? The thought of her son living with anyone but her was disturbing.

"Who were they?"

"A man named Richard, his last name, it's unknown he used many pseudonyms, and a young woman. Actually, I have no idea who she is."

Cuddy remembered her little boy's bright blue eyes, how they twinkled with happiness every time she saw him.

"When can I see him?"

It was a Wednesday. She clenched the phone waiting for the Detective's answer.

"Friday. You'll regain your parental rights then."

A small smile made its way onto Dr. Cuddy's face. For the first time that day, she felt some hope, some kind of happiness.

"I'll see you soon Lisa."

She turned off the phone. Cuddy had never expected to get her son back, she had simply assumed there was no way it would happen. After all, there had been the police officers coming to her house, telling her about the accident, saying Landon, little baby Landon was gone. Then, there had been a funeral, no remains to be buried. The story was starting to make some sense to Cuddy.

Then, in that miserable moment, she remembered the day she lost the two most important things in her life.

"But,maybe." she thought using the kitchen counter to support herself when her head began to spin. "Maybe, now there's a chance things will be better again."

Dr. Lisa Cuddy, hospital administrator, a very strong woman on the outside, cried herself to sleep that night.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own House M.D.

Gregory House, M.D., was a man with a mission. He, most importantly, had to locate his very useful video game, essential to the medical process. But, he also had to avoid the one woman his eyes would never be able to meet, Lisa Cuddy. That, was the element essential to his survival.

House walked down the hallways of the teaching hospital, walking with a rhythm, using his cane as if it were actually his leg. It was an very graceful way of moving. Leg, cane, leg ,cane. For House, it was the closest he would ever come to being a dancer. Fortunately for House, despite his mother's stories, it had never been an aspiration of his.

As he grabbed his PSP from his office, and made his way to the corridor, planning a grand escape to the clinic, he nearly ran into Wilson.

The oncologist looked at him strangely. "Shouldn't you be hiding in the clinic."

House glared back at his friend, wondering if he was becoming predictable or if Jimmy just knew him to well.

"Maybe, maybe not." he snapped in a whiny ,childlike voice.

His friend gave him the look a parent would when their child was misbehaving. But, House's behavior quickly became a second subject matter as Wilson remembered the true purpose of his visit.

"Have you seen Cuddy? questioned Jimmy, as his friend began to limp away.

House looked over his shoulder. "Wrong person to ask." he stated simply. "I'm avoiding Cuddy."

-Flashback-

Lisa Cuddy was extremely happy with her life. She was a medical student., had great grades, and had found the love of her life. He was a wonderful guy, charming, smart, athletic, the type of man her parents had expected her to find, and to marry.

It seemed like the perfect setup for success. Then, one day she came crashing through the small clinic used for training at the college she attended. Lisa looked like a mad woman, hair flying in every direction, eyes mercilessly glancing in every direction scouting her target.

Cuddy found the small room she was looking for. Inside, it appeared to be a type of study hall. There were students sprawled in various locations across the room, heads bent over textbooks while they scribbled notes. Except for one student, the monitor of the group. He sat at the front of the class, feet up on the desk, holding a small novel in his hands.

She had to smile. It wasn't likely he was actually reading. She knew that once she reached the desk he would casually place the novel down, careful to slide the comic book that was hidden in there into a medical journal.

She began her descent down the steps. It was then that her heart rate increased. Lisa steadied herself.

"He'll understand." she thought willing her legs to stop shaking. He won't be too angry. Slowly, but surely she moved down the steps picking up her pace in a desperate move to reach the bottom.

"I have to tell him." the thought raced across her mind.

Cuddy moved towards the desk. As she suspected, his hands moved toward a medical journal, almost as if he were shutting it to focus on what she was going to tell him. Summoning all the courage she could she took the final step towards the monitor. A pair of electric blue eyes met hers.

"Greg, we need to talk." her head began to spin.

He looked confused. Then, he stared at the woman before him. "Okay." he replied.

Lisa felt her legs begin to give out. She grabbed the desk. "Now or never." she thought desperately.

"House, I'm pregnant."

The last thing she saw before the world went black was his jaw dropping.

-End Flashback-

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Sorry for the delay, I had to decide which direction this chapter would go in. The next one will come faster. Please read and review.


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